Has anybody replaced the stock seats with racing seats such as Recaro, Corbeau, Sparco or other?

If so, what's your experience with them AND... Post photos here.

These are not mine (They are Dutch's I think), but searching around the forum I found them. They gave me the idea to consider them, instead of Katzkins. We'll see, after some research and budget-making.

Makes sense, mjp2 - But if I go the racing seats route, they'll be more "mellow" racing seats. You can obviously get hardcore 4 point or 5 point seats like the ones above, but the racing seats companies also sell less "racy" models that have the looks and performance, and are compatible with various styles of seatbelts.

My thinking is that if Katzkins are going to cost me a little over a grand, getting leather racing seats, while a bit more money, might be a better option.

Makes sense, mjp2 - But if I go the racing seats route, they'll be more "mellow" racing seats. You can obviously get hardcore 4 point or 5 point seats like the ones above, but the racing seats companies also sell less "racy" models that have the looks and performance, and are compatible with various styles of seatbelts.

My thinking is that if Katzkins are going to cost me a little over a grand, getting leather racing seats, while a bit more money, might be a better option.

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You can go full bore racing seats (I had Corbeau CR1s in an F150 years ago) without a cage as long as you stick with the factory seatbelts. Obviously some will fit better than others, but most any of the reclining seats will work nicely with the stock belts.

Simply by their design most fixed-back seats will tend to keep the belt off of you, which isn't ideal or even all that safe, but then a fixed-back seat would generally only go in a purpose-built vehicle anyway so it's not much of a concern.

Just making sure folks stay safe out there.

My personal preference is for the CR1 seats. Fantastic support, great looks, and very, very comfortable on even the longest drives. I swapped them in when I commuted 150 miles a day and had severe back pain from the stock seats. They took care of that in no time!

You seem to know what you are talking about, so I'm going to ask you this...

1. When wearing a 5-point belt system for example, is a steering wheel airbag redundant? Or is it still good to have?

2. When replacing the stock seats with racing seats yet keeping stock seatbelts, losing the seat airbags might not be a good idea. Right? Not having seat airbags means a 4 or 5 point harness is better (which then means you should have a roll bar too).

Airbags and five points are counter productive. You're not going anywhere when properly belted into a five point and the air bag is basically just going to give you a solid punch to the face.

If you keep the stock seat belts to use on pavement, you might want to consider keeping the airbag and just dealing with the punch to the face if you end up deploying it offroad while wearing a harness.

You seem to know what you are talking about, so I'm going to ask you this...

1. When wearing a 5-point belt system for example, is a steering wheel airbag redundant? Or is it still good to have?

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Definitely redundant, but amusing if it does happen to go off. When I blew mine last year it never touched me. I just turned to my co-driver and said "So that's what that's like. I've never had an airbag go off before." while laughing.

2. When replacing the stock seats with racing seats yet keeping stock seatbelts, losing the seat airbags might not be a good idea. Right? Not having seat airbags means a 4 or 5 point harness is better (which then means you should have a roll bar too).

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Losing the side impact airbag will mean you're in the same boat as most vehicles on the road. Not a big deal to me but it's your call. Note that the airbag light on the dash will most likely remain lit.

And as stated above, that 3-point harness is essentially a 4-point. Anything that keeps you pinned upright is a no-no unless you're caged.

mjp2, has pointed out most the issues. It kills me to see street cars with 4/5 point seat belts and race seats.

Also remember fixed back seats are just as bad as harness if you don't have a cage.

Coming from the faster street car world there is also a lot of discussion of a roll cage in a street car/truck. A simple fender bender can result in a huge issue should your head contact a cage with out a helmet on.

Oh, I've had an airbag go off and break my thumb! And bruise my face. :s

This is a great discussion. As far as what to do with my soon-coming truck I think I'm going to stick with the stock seats and re-upholster them with Katzkin. I did a bunch of research yesterday and compared the pros and cons.

While I liked seats like the Corbeau CR1's, I ran the numbers and after buying the seats, seat brackets and re-upholstering the back seats to somewhat match, I'm looking at easily twice the price of a high-end Katzkin setup. Apart from the fact that I can't benefit from a harness (no cage) and I'll lose the side airbags.

So maybe the CR1's might be more comfortable and supportive than the stock seats, and they might look cooler, but that's about it. Not worth twice the price to me at this stage.

For my purposes, I think the stock seats leather upholstery will do the trick.